The clubhouse of the Class AAA Indianapolis Indians erupted in cheers and applause. They had just been told by their manager, Miguel Pérez, that Oneil Cruz, the Pirates' top prospect, was being promoted to the majors, one of the most anticipated moves the organization was going to make this year.
After a few moments, Pérez had another announcement.
"Hey, there's one more."
Bligh Madris was going to the majors with him.
"It was so out of the blue and so unexpected," Madris said. "I knew I was playing well, but I just tried to get lost in everything in AAA ... I wasn’t expecting it. I just kind of dropped my head in my hands. I was like, ‘No way this is happening right now.’ Then to look up and have all my teammates huddled around me, jumping around just as excited as I am."
And while Cruz may have stole the show in the Pirates' Monday night win over the Cubs with record-setting throws and exit velocities, Madris was arguably the player of the game at PNC Park. In his big-league debut, Madris recorded three hits, two RBIs and a stolen base while also making a diving catch in the corner:
Madris does not come with the same amount of excitement or pageantry as Cruz for his call up, but he 26-year-old outfielder has steadily continued to get better year after year to get this point where he's earned a major-league opportunity.
"This is an organizational win because this is a kid that a lot of people poured into," Derek Shelton said. "I think there's a lot of people in baseball ops smiling tonight."
"This is not a case where Bligh is coming up because we had three injuries and are desperate for an outfielder," general manager Ben Cherington said. "He's performed at a level in AAA where he's earned this and forced his way up, and good for him. Every time we asked Miggy and the staff there who's going to have a good at-bat in a major league game tomorrow, his name was usually right at the top of the list, so he'll have a chance to do that now and it'll be fun to see."
This debut very nearly happened at the start of the season. Madris went into his first major-league camp without much fanfare, but ended up being one of the very last cuts on the final day of spring training.
"It was definitely motivating, but everyone here was really transparent about why that happened," Madris said. "I was content with it. I was intact with it. I didn’t try to let it affect me that much. I just tried to go to AAA and start doing my job and do everything I needed to do to get back here, and here we are."
Madis moved his hands closer to the plate and began standing more upright during his at-bats this spring, which ended up being the foundational and mechanical changes that helped him find another gear as a hitter. He kept hitting when he returned to Indianapolis, slashing .304/.385/.519 with five home runs in his 46 games plated.
Instead of being heartbroken of falling oh so short of the majors this spring, the 2017 ninth-round draft pick found a way to keep getting better.
“It’s a testament to who Bligh Madris is as a person, as a teammate, as a player," Derek Shelton said. "That at no point … was he feeling sorry for himself or like, ‘woe is me.' He just kept playing. He had arguably as good a spring as any minor league player we had. Went to Indy, there were a lot of people in front of him, didn’t play as much, got his opportunity.
“There’s a lot of people that put a lot of time and effort into him and first and foremost, Bligh. But you know, I know last night when we made the decision to call him up, that there were a lot of people in the Pirates organization that were really proud to be part of this.”
That hot stretch in the minors carried over to his first major-league game, where in his first at-bat in the second inning, he crushed a ball 109.1 mph for a two RBI single:
It would be the first knock in a three hit performance, which also included a double and a stolen base. Madris joined some rare company with that effort, becoming the first Pirate to record three hits in their debut since Jason Kendall in 1996.
After rain cancelled batting practice in the afternoon, Madris went to the plate a little col and a little nervous. That hit helped change that.
"You feel that weight lifted off your shoulders a little bit," he said. "Just nice to get the first one out of the way. I felt pretty relaxed my first AB."
A corner outfielder by trade, Madris started to pick up first base again this year, and he will eventually resume taking ground balls there once he becomes more familiar to the ballpark and its challenges for corner outfielders. Getting more reps at first could help Madris stay in the lineup and stand out among what is a crowded batch of young outfielders currently in the majors or Indianapolis
For now, he'll take being the "organizational win," knowing he's here because of his hard work and five years of coaching and development by the PIrates.
"I owe a lot of people a ton of thank yous for their knowledge and everything they’ve poured into me over the years," Madris said. "There’s no better way to display that than to go out and play hard every single night. That’s from old regime, new regime. There are a lot of people who have helped me get to this point and help build me as a player. I’m really thankful for all those people."
